Should gold have weight?

[Hoebagger]

Should gold/currency have a weight associated with it? If you think it should, would you associate it with the difficulty level of the game or have it apply in all circumstances?

 

Personally, I would like gold to have a weight associated with it. I would like to see it applied no matter the difficulty level of the game. I would also like to see an option for rewards other then gold, such as expensive jewels or standing in the community. Another feature could be each companion you have gets a share of the gold you find. So that Orc hideout you just raided may have gotten you 1000gp, but between the five companions with you, the PC only get a certain share.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

EDIT: Added no weight option to poll

 

You're missing the best idea: Have an option for either. Part of the human condition is enjoying that feeling of control, hence being given more options is always preferable to not having them. One of my favorite things about fallout New Vegas was hardcore mode since it gave it that added realism of weight and forcing the player to think about sustenance. Having an option for gold to have weight can only be a good thing. Why make the decision for the players? Why not let them make it for themselves?

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I don't really mind but I would prefer it if gold actually had some value rather than ending up with an unlimited suply of money after five minutes like Skyrim.

[Oerwinde]

I'm all for it if it can be implemented properly. Having a system of banks and credit tied into it along with possibly being able to invest your gold later in various assets would be great I think.

 

If all it is is gold=heavy, I voted tie it to difficulty. Maybe have a toggle for those who want it.

[Troller]

Yeah just have money with no weight, and then when someone comes to rob you, they will take all the money you have on you, instead of just a fraction of it.

[WDeranged]

I'm all for it if it can be implemented properly. Having a system of banks and credit tied into it along with possibly being able to invest your gold later in various assets would be great I think.

 

If all it is is gold=heavy, I voted tie it to difficulty. Maybe have a toggle for those who want it.

 

This is how I feel, it's only worthwhile if they make some kind of mechanic out of it, it's just busywork otherwise, quest building options would be expanded quite a bit if characters are going to have money invested in the world.

Edited September 16, 2012 by WDeranged

[DYWYPI]

Pointless, pointless, pointless.

 

Do you bother with this kind of thing in a PnP game? No, of course not, no sane DM is going to waste everybody's time shuffling numbers around - if it's not ignored entirely in favor of something that the players and DM both are actually interested in, it's just handwaved away with a "We drop off our loot while we're in town", And while the latter's fine on the tabletop, where the DM can just say "Okay, you do that, then what?" and it's over, it's not okay in a cRPG where dropping it off, or whatever other system is in place for it, actually involves taking time to physically travel there and navigate the UI.

[Odarbi]

I voted "gold should have a weight, determined by difficulty", but that's mostly because I believe inventory management *needs* to be part of the game. Having gold weigh more in the higher difficulty levels could also make for less time spent balancing difficulties, since you'd theoretically be unable to buy as much as someone on the easier difficulties (assuming weight based carrying limitations)... which makes things harder in it's own right.

 

In truth though, I'm really indifferent to gold having a weight. It's not going to make or break the game for me.

[Volourn]

"Do you bother with this kind of thing in a PnP game? No, of course not, no sane DM is going to waste everybody's time shuffling numbers around - if it's not ignored entirely in favor of something that the players and DM both are actually interested in, it's just handwaved away with a "We drop off our loot while we're in town", And while the latter's fine on the tabletop, where the DM can just say "Okay, you do that, then what?" and it's over, it's not okay in a cRPG where dropping it off, or whatever other system is in place for it, actually involves taking time to physically travel there and navigate the UI. "

 

That's hilarious because every pnp game I've played ALWAYS has weighted coins. ALWAYS. Not even a single exception to the rule.

[Odarbi]

Pointless, pointless, pointless.

 

Do you bother with this kind of thing in a PnP game? No, of course not, no sane DM is going to waste everybody's time shuffling numbers around - if it's not ignored entirely in favor of something that the players and DM both are actually interested in, it's just handwaved away with a "We drop off our loot while we're in town", And while the latter's fine on the tabletop, where the DM can just say "Okay, you do that, then what?" and it's over, it's not okay in a cRPG where dropping it off, or whatever other system is in place for it, actually involves taking time to physically travel there and navigate the UI.

 

My DM bothers with it, and it's definitely as simple as us brushing it off and saying "Oh, that 100 pounds worth of coins is in the cart", but it's never *pointless*. In fact, I'm in favor of coins having a weight because it makes it less likely that, or at least take far longer until, you'll reach the usually inevitable "I have a billion dollars and nothing to spend it on" point that appears in most RPG games ever.

[ComradeGoby]

Why do we need gold in the first place?

 

Why not some different kind of currency?

 

Pieces of your soul!

[DYWYPI]

My DM bothers with it, and it's definitely as simple as us brushing it off and saying "Oh, that 100 pounds worth of coins is in the cart", but it's never *pointless*. In fact, I'm in favor of coins having a weight because it makes it less likely that, or at least take far longer until, you'll reach the usually inevitable "I have a billion dollars and nothing to spend it on" point that appears in most RPG games ever.

 

Yes, but the issue is that in a tabletop game, you can just brush it off like that. Coins have weight, yes, but it simply gets written off in however long it takes you to say "We head back and put it in the bank, then we head back over to..." or "Yeah, we stash the loot with our mute-and-invisible donkey caravan and keep going to the town". In a cRPG, you actually physically have to run over to the bank, or whatever, every time in order to do that. It becomes an actual chore for the players, not just for the characters.

 

I don't really see that avoiding the "billion gold" situation simply by making it more tedious to get there is really an advantage at all.

[nikolokolus]

I'm completely indifferent.

 

Mostly the idea of currency just comes down to how much material X can you purchase with Y. If you want to give currency weight, then have denominations of copper, silver, gold, platinum, etc. where most in-game items are purchased with smaller denomination coins and can be readily exchanged in banks or at merchants. This is how old-school first edition D&D handled things and it never seemed to get in the way of the fun. On the other hand if the devs don't want to waste energy and time on this then they should scrap implementing a weight system for coinage, there's a lot bigger fish to fry.

[gholam]

The gold shouldn't have weight. If it does it will be pretty annoying.

[OldRPG'sAreGood]

Sure, as long as it's optional or tied to a difficulty setting. It would be interesting to see what would be dropped into the depths of some dungeon when an unknown magical artifact is awarded, but the weight limit is reached. Though I can see how it can easily become tedious, hence I voted "determined by difficulty".

[aVENGER]

I'm a bit surprised that people cannot imagine other ways to store valuables besides carrying them in their inventory all the time. If anything, that's unrealistic. Wouldn't it make more sense to roleplay that the character keeps the majority of his gold and items in a stronghold/storage facility or a bank?

 

In my view, inventory tetris and gold weight don't add anything except tediousness to the gameplay.

[marlomarlo]

Gold having weight would not make the game more fun or in some other way enjoyable to me, so I say no to gold having weight.

 

I also tend to hate pressing a button to pick up lots of trash loot and gold. So if there is no trash loot to pick up, and if you just automatically pick gold up after killing something that drops it, that would make me happy.

Edited September 16, 2012 by marlomarlo

[generic.hybridity]

Personally I find that this sort of question depends upon the style of game. In one which is focusing on story and defeating dungeons and such. Having to return to the same dead dungeon just to retrieve loot I was unable to carry is a little frustrating, though it really depends on how many trips. But I can deal with it. In a game like FO:NV which as part of the core experience is living and surviving in the wasteland seems to lend itself to mechanics which can enhance this feel.

 

I cannot think of an appreciable way in which money weighing stuff would enhance an IE style game. (Having said this details are of course at this stage very sparse and I could be wrong and would be happy to)

 

Not being able to cart money around though means they probably have to implement a banking system of some sort. Which to me seems unnecessary. I can deal with limiting equipment carrying but then reducing the amount of gold I can carry seems to be creating a problem. The economy would of course then relate more to the weight of the currency (If it didn't of course you would need a wheelbarrow to carry your gold to purchase things with) which from an economics perspective could be interesting but would probably take away time from creating other more interesting mechanics and story. It introduces a balance issue where there was none in a part of the game which I usually care little about.

[Majek]

If gold has weigh, will my character have to use a credit card for easier funds transactions? or IOUs?

[Humanoid]

At the game's expected technology level, the most I'd expect are travellers cheques.

[Majek]

Hopefully the rural traders will know how to read. ... and understand what they read. Functional illiteracy can end you quickly.

[Grayman]

Any treasure weight trade offs I am picturing for gold could be accomplished by making the loot goods instead of currency. With that trade off in mind all that is left of weight gold is tedium of muling cash. The big heavy pile of currency gold that is difficult to carry can just be made into chalices or ornamental weapons. That solution also avoids the split it up and leave behind the coin that breaks the encumbrance systems back method.

[StupidFahk]

Gold should have a weight, but there would be the ability to have a credit card that wouldn't make that a problem.

[KateM]

Gold is heavy, but there's no reason why you would ever possess enough gold for the weight to matter. Just a few gold coins is a LOT of money. If ever the character had so much gold that it was a burden, they could exchange it at a banking house for a note of the same value- an act which is as irrelevant to the game as eating, sleeping, and defecating.

[SirthOsiris]

Weight would be more realistic, although having to do gold stores and such might mean more resources devoted to figuring it out.

 

So whichever Obsidian decides.

[Cantousent]

No weight, no how. I don't think that giving money a weight attribute will do anything to improve what I see are the mains points about the role playing game. Yes, it's more realistic, but we don't need to scrounge for toilet paper, worry about getting deathly ill from not washing our hands before we eat, or any number of things that could lend realism. No weight for gold.